This is just OUTRAGEOUS! Veterans advocates are denouncing an opinion piece in the New York Times that draws links between veterans and white
supremacist groups in attempting to explain the actions of the suspected gunman in a recent and deadly shooting outside a Kansas Jewish center.

The number of Vietnam veterans in that movement was small — a tiny proportion of those who served — but Vietnam veterans forged the first
links between Klansmen and Nazis since World War II. They were central in leading Klan and neo-Nazi groups past the anti-civil rights backlash of the
1960s and toward paramilitary violence. The white power movement they forged had strongholds not only in the South, but also in the Pacific Northwest,
Colorado, California and Pennsylvania. Its members carried weapons like those they had used in Vietnam, and used boot-camp rhetoric to frame their
pursuit of domestic enemies. They condoned violence against innocent people and, eventually, the state itself.

Before his 1979 discharge for distributing racist literature, Mr. Miller served for 20 years in the Army, including two tours in Vietnam and service
as a Green Beret. Later that year he took part (but was not charged) in a deadly shooting of Communist protesters in Greensboro, N.C.

In 2009, the Department of Homeland Security issued a nine-page report detailing the threat of domestic terrorism by the white power movement.
This short document outlined no specific threats, but rather a set of historical factors that had predicted white-supremacist activity in the past —
like economic pressure, opposition to immigration and gun-control legislation — and a new factor, the election of a black president.

The report singled out one factor that has fueled every surge in Ku Klux Klan membership in American history, from the 1860s to the present: war. The
return of veterans from combat appears to correlate more closely with Klan membership than any other historical factor. “Military veterans facing
significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists carrying
out violent attacks,” the report warned. The agency was “concerned that right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning
veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities.”

The report raised intense blowback from the American Legion, Fox News and conservative members of Congress. They demanded an apology and denounced the
idea that any veteran could commit an act of domestic terrorism. The department shelved the report, removing it from its website. The threat, however,
proved real.

Mr. Miller obviously represents an extreme, both in his politics and in his violence. A vast majority of veterans are neither violent nor mentally
ill. When they turn violent, they often harm themselves, by committing suicide. But it would be irresponsible to overlook the high rates of combat
trauma among the 2.4 million Americans who have served in our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the full impact of which has not yet materialized.
Veterans of those conflicts represent just 10 percent of those getting mental health services through the Department of Veterans Affairs, where the
overwhelming majority of those in treatment are still Vietnam veterans.

That Mr. Miller was able to carry out an act of domestic terror at two locations despite his history of violent behavior should alarm anyone
concerned about public safety. Would he have received greater scrutiny had he been a Muslim, a foreigner, not white, not a veteran? The answer is
clear, and alarming.

Like most everything in the news today, I think both the op-ed and the reporting on the op-ed are misleading. While it may be true that a very small
number of veterans of the Vietnam war became involved in the white supremacy movement, facilitating military style training of some groups, there's
no real evidence to suggest that these people wouldn't have otherwise gravitated to such groups. Even more importantly, the DHS report cited seems to
neglect some obvious facts, chiefly that the Civil War was ostensibly over slavery and so it shouldn't be surprising that Civil War veterans,
particularly those in the south, would join the KKK — I'd imagine it was the largest surge in membership for the KKK, ever. Secondly, as we
all know, Vietnam started at the peak of the Civil Rights movement, so again it makes perfect sense that the Klan membership would be swelling with
disgruntled bigots angry over the end of Jim Crow laws and desegregation.

I don't think there's any credible reason to believe that the increased Klan membership has anything to do with military service. That said, let's
not forget this is one person's opinion and she's not a policy maker.

While it may be true that a very small number of veterans of the Vietnam war became involved in the white supremacy movement -

The number of vets from that war is huge so even connecting the fact that they are vietnam vets to any one thing is just ridiculous.

I remember when my brother came back from the war, he traveled to the South with his buddy to meet the guys Family, they stopped at a bar in the South
one evening and the owner refused to serve my brothers friend as he was black.

My brother said that serving together over there men had become aware of each other as men and no one looked at color over there only how much you
could trust who was watching your back they were stunned that things were still so backward back home.

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